The United Nations Trade and Development reports that e-commerce is worth more than $22 trillion and this number is continuing to rise as the years progress.
Don’t you want your brand to be a part of all of this?
To make this more interesting, millennials are the largest demographic shopping online. As they become the largest group of consumers in the world, it is going to be important for your business to have online purchasing options in order to stay relevant.
Like all things in marketing, having an e-commerce store is about appealing to your customers and ensuring that you are taking into account their needs and lifestyle.
But if you are wondering where you should begin and how you should get the ball rolling, here is where to start
5 Critical Things to Consider When Building Your Money-making Online Store
There is a lot of information out there on how to start an e-commerce store but it can be hard to separate the facts from the fiction.
We are going to aim to simplify the process as much as possible so you can make the best decisions for your brand and your customers.
The first step is determining the type of platform you want to use
1.) The Platform of Your Choice
There are so many great e-commerce platforms out there that offer a range of functions and services. They also range in price and terms of service. Of course, then there is also the option of having your e-commerce store uniquely coded for your business.
Most of the existing e-commerce platforms out there are also pretty adaptable, which means that you can easily make tweaks and changes to suit your brand. Some of these platforms are Shopify, WooCommerce, PayPal, Weebly, Square Space, Wix etc.
2.) Choosing your Payment Gateway
No matter what platform you choose, chances are you are also going to have select an appropriate payment gateway. This payment gateway is going to allow you to process transactions from credit cards and allow you to access your money.
In Nigeria a very popular gateway to consider is Paystack. Paystack allows you to Make instant transfers and Retrieve all your transaction and customer data.
3.) The Most Effective Delivery Process
Once you have considered the platform and payment processor, the next step is considering how you are going to deliver your products or services to your customers.
Many online store platforms offer ways to deliver virtual or downloadable products or services, but if you are doing physical products you will need to come up with another solution.
While there are likely to be a range of shipping companies in your area that you can utilize, doing your research to find the best option for your brand would definitely be time well spent.
4.) Crafting Your Sales Funnel
The idea of a sales funnel is to guide your leads through your website so they become paying customers.
There are many techniques and tips you can employ to create an effective sales funnel and while we won’t go into all the details here, one of the most important things is the ease of purchasing your products or services.
By having a really clear, simple and easy way for your customers to view your product it will definitely help to drive sales.
Once your customers have placed the item in their shopping cart, the next few steps are also extremely important.
5.) Encourage Online Reviews
The final step that you have to consider when starting your online store is collecting reviews.
Reviews are super important when it comes to online shopping and in fact, many customers report that reading reviews are an important part of their decision process when choosing what to purchase.
In fact, 88 percent of consumer trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation, especially if the reviews are written in an honest and forthcoming way.
By taking these six steps into consideration, setting up your online store will be quick and easy, so you can start selling your products sooner rather than later.